Keeping Track

From the desk of Teresa Jordan, Executive Director –

Ear worms are unpredictable. This morning my husband called out, “I guess you’re not in the shower … since I can hear you singing Chattanooga Choo Choo from the bedroom, I am flushing the toilet.” This is the kind of loving exchange that can be heard at my house all of the time.

Here’s the thing … I was not really consciously aware that I was singing Chattanooga Choo Choo and, furthermore, I would be hard pressed to guess when I last heard, thought about or sang that particular song. Then, when I did start paying attention, I realized that I was mashing up about three oldies into weird verses that seemed to always end in, “She’s sixteen, she’s beautiful and she’s mine.”

The brain is a marvelous and mysterious thing. Mine was clearly on its own this morning in the way of music choices. I guess this makes me think about all of the other things that our minds do when not really attended to. Do we slip into habits, form opinions on auto
pilot? For sure my husband usually flushes the toilet automatically whether I am in the shower or not…

Listen to your ear worms … not necessarily because there is secret wisdom in unconscious humming, but more because doing so will snap us back to where we are, guide us to a more thoughtful moment and – when we are all being conscious and mindful – there are far fewer screeching hot shower flushes and other such mishaps and misadventures.